Bread Tastes Better With Ran
by NepgyaHeart
Summary: Ran finds Moca outside Yamabuki Bakery lamenting the fact that she can't buy any buns. Before she can get the whole story, Moca steals her melon bun… and a kiss. Annoyed and nonplussed, Ran exacts her "revenge" the next day: stealing her own kiss from Moca. Then it all gets resolved by sharing a curry bun.


"What beautiful buns… But I can't eat any of them~" Moca pressed her face against the glass window of Yamabuki Bakery, watching Saya and her father huddle around a fresh batch of bread inside.

"Moca? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, Ran, you're here! Save me~" She turned away from the bakery and attempted to throw herself in Ran's arms, the latter of which stepped back to avoid the unnecessary physical contact.

"What are you talking about?"

Pretending to wipe a tear from her eye, Moca huffed. "I'm not allowed to eat any buns!"

"What?" Ran couldn't tell if she didn't care for this joke, or if she was genuinely interested in how this would play out. No, probably the former. Most definitely the former.

"You heard me. And it's such a tragedy!" Moca kissed the display window again. At this, Saya gave a polite smile and wave from inside the shop. Due to the second-hand embarrassment (though Moca certainly didn't feel any), Ran pulled her friend away and let out a low groan. "All that bread that should be in my stomach, making it very happy…"

"Moca, enough with that. What are you even doing here if you're just going to lament this?" Never mind whatever reason the girl claimed to be crying over. About buns, no less.

"Window shopping~" Moca said with a slow nod.

"You don't window shop for bread," Ran deadpanned, sliding her hand into her pants pocket, plastic bag around her wrist making noise.

"Silly Ran. I was just kidding~" Not getting a reaction, Moca added, "I want it so badly…"

"Then buy some."

"I can't."

"And why not? If you don't stop going in circles with this, I'm leaving." Ran crossed her arms.

"I'm not allowed to!"

Ran's face remained stoic, but on the inside, her head churned with thoughts. Was Moca allergic to gluten now? Couldn't be. Was she broke? No, her job payed her yesterday, Ran knew. Did her parents tell her to stop buying? That made no sense. Did she gain weight? Impossible. Did Yamabuki Bakery ban her? Couldn't be, Moca was a major source of their income.

Then what?

"Moca-"

With a melodramatic gasp, Moca clutched onto Ran's arm. "Is that bag from the bakery?"

"What?" Hesitating, Ran said, "Yeah. I saw you here when I went in, and you were staring inside the whole time. You didn't see me?"

"No…" Moca stared at Ran's bag, practically drooling. "What did you buy?"

"Just a bun, my lunch. What else?"

Not answering, Moca reached into the bag and fished out the single melon bun within it. "Oh, this ambrosia calling cute little Moca-chan's name~"

"Hey, put that back." Attempting to grab it, Ran extended her arm, but stopped once Moca put a hand on her face.

"Don't worry. Just a bite. I know this is yours." Moca unwrapped the pastry and ripped a piece off.

Before Moca tossed the crumb into her mouth, Ran grabbed her wrist. "Moca, I said to not touch it."

"That's not what you said~"

"Then I'm telling you to put it back." Give it up for Moca being the one person who could make Ran get angry over a bun. "I'm not in the mood for this."

"But it's already in my hand… Bottoms up~" Moca opened her mouth and flicked her wrist, but didn't let go of her morsel thanks to Ran.

"Don't do that. You're making me angry."

"Oh? But you're so cute right now, Ran-chan!"

"Wh-what?" Stammering, Ran felt her face flush and the grip on Moca's wrist weaken. How many times had she fallen for this trick? "I swear, you're not going to-"

"See? Just like that. Anyway, as I was saying…" Wiggling out of Ran's hold, Moca grinned and opened her mouth again. With a slight twitch, the bun piece went flying.

Not allowing this to go on any longer, Ran moved her arm like lightning and grabbed the bread before it touched Moca's lips. And knowing she would just try it again with the pastry out in the open, Ran acted quick on her feet and shoved it into her mouth despite immediately regretting it once the deed was done.

"There, it's gone now," she choked out as she swallowed the bread without chewing too much. "I'm going home now."

The rest of her soiled bun back in her bag, Ran shook her head and didn't bother saying goodbye. She got stopped by Moca holding her arm. "Ran, wait."

"What now?"

"You've got crumbs on your face."

Ran put her hand over her mouth and found that to be a lie. "Enough. I'll see you at school tom-"

Next thing she knew, Moca tugged on her hand and leaned in, pressing their lips together. Unable to process this, Ran remained stunned, all stress about the stupid bun dissipating. All she could think of was, _What is happening?_

In an instant, it was over. Moca stepped back and stuck her tongue out. With a giggle, she said, "Wow, that tasted just like a melon bun. Thank you~"

It was as if that kiss didn't happen. Ran didn't get to say anything else as Moca turned tail and entered the bakery.

"What?" she asked herself, touching her lips with her fingers. How dare Moca kiss her? Of all things, kiss her? How dare she say _that_ when it was over? How dare she go into the bakery after wasting all of her time whining about buns? And how dare the kiss last only a second?

Wait.

Face turning a similar shade to her red streak, Ran walked away while staring at her Yamabuki Bakery bag, which contained the bun that was the catalyst of this event. She was left thinking, _Moca, I'm going to get you back for this_.

**~X~**

"Ran, over here!" Leaning on the railing of their school's rooftop, Moca lazily waved at her friend. "Where's everyone else?"

"I didn't invite them." Ran walked up to Moca with a slight glare.

"I see, you wanted to spend lunchtime with just me, hogging the ever-popular Moca-chan to yourself? Shame on you."

"Enough playing around." Ran took special note of the yet-to-be-bitten curry bun in Moca's hands. "Moca, yesterday."

"Yesterday what?" Moca took a small yawn before raising her bread to her mouth.

Once Moca bit a piece off and started chewing, Ran made her move. She pressed pulled Moca close and, similar to how the latter did yesterday, brought their lips together in a surprise kiss. It may or may not have tasted like curry bun.

Moca didn't flinch away at all. In fact, she welcomed it. Under Ran's face, radiating extreme heat and with very stiff lips, Moca tried to laugh. How typical that she didn't put this in words before acting on impulse.

Unlike the kiss bestowed upon Ran by Moca, this one lasted a few seconds longer. Neither girl pushed the other away. For a moment, Moca thought, _I wonder if Hii-chan likes anime like this. No, she definitely does._

Once the embarrassment caught up to her, Ran let go and stepped back. "There." She wiped her lips and covered her face with her hand.

"Aw, Ran, I knew these were your true feelings." Moca took a casual bite out of her bun.

"Stop it. I just said that this was for yesterday." So she said.

"Yesterday?"

"Don't pretend like you don't remember."

"Oh, thaaat… I know, I'm sorry for ruining your innocent melon bun~"

"Moca!" Ran blushed even harsher, a combination of embarrassment and anger. She didn't want to explicitly say what happened, and she knew that Moca knew.

"Yes?"

"I'm going back." Not having any more of it, Ran decided to save herself the effort. She turned around but was stopped in her tracks by Moca clinging to her sleeve.

"You know, I was really happy yesterday~"

_I'm sure you were_, Ran though as she rolled her eyes.

"After I went into the bakery, Saya was so nice and let me have one of those buns I couldn't buy. At first, she said no because it was a new flavor meant only for a new customer, but it turned out that she made too many! And it was so good."

Ran sighed at yet another bun tale Moca regaled her with against her will. But something about her wording sounded familiar. "You mean the reason you were drooling on their window and whining to me was because you couldn't buy one bun out of the whole bakery?"

"Ah ah ah, not just any bun. It was supposed to be a limited time flavor, and this one person planned to buy them all! Can you believe that? How mean."

Ran's blood pressure rose. "Of all the reasons—Moca, I'm leaving."

"You didn't let me finish."

"I think I've heard enough." Ran broke free of the grip on her sleeve.

"The bun Saya gave me was delicious, but I think my favorite bun has to be the melon bun."

Taken aback with slight confusion, Ran asked, "What are you talking about?"

"You know, the one you shared with me~"

Then it came rushing back to Ran, the reason behind her little "revenge" just a few minutes ago, a revenge that didn't even make that much sense. What did she think she was going to accomplish by doing that? Blushing madly again, she said, "You-"

"Shh…" Moca held a finger to her friend's lips.

"I-"

"Shhh…"

"Moca-"

"Shhhh…" With her other hand, still holding her curry bun, Moca took another bite. After doing so, she offered it to Ran, only then removing her finger.

With a scattered train of thought and a loss for words, Ran sighed and mindlessly took a nibble from the offered bread, trying to ignore Moca smirking at her. She was going to lose brain cells if she fought it any more than she already had. Plus, being by Moca's side in complete silence wasn't so bad. In fact, it was pleasant and enjoyable. Though Ran wouldn't say that out loud.

Then, Moca bit into the same place Ran did and held her cheek. "Mmm, it's so sweet~"

Still chewing, Ran said, "Curry buns aren't supposed to be sweet."

"But now it is~"

Before she could make any other comeback, Moca gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, casually brushing off a crumb at the corner of Ran's lips.


End file.
